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Why We Need Parables
Joe McKeever

Dwight L. Moody used to remind pastors to "put the cookies on the bottom shelf so everyone could reach them."

What he meant--and what he practiced as well as it could be done--was, "Keep the message simple." Make it accessible to everyone.

How many times have we sat in a class or church service that was numbing our brain and lulling us to sleep because of its "precept upon precept" style of presentation, when the speaker/preacher said those magic words that jerked us back to life: "Let me tell you a little story...."

We sat up and listened for a dozen reasons. We are built to enjoy a story (which is nothing in the world but a recount of how someone other than ourselves dealt with life; it's how we learn), we love a good laugh, we devour great insights, and we appreciate the break in the flow of the lesson that day. But what we especially appreciate is that the story may help us grasp the contents of whatever principles the speaker was sharing.

Case in point....

They criticized the Lord Jesus for hobnobbing with the lower class, people who were clearly sinners, bad influences, and reputation ruiners. Now, had our Lord graduated from certain schools of preaching current today, He would have answered something like this:

"There are three reasons why these creatures need me...

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